Absolutely-calibrated images of Jupiter at 8-13 m from
July-August 1994 provide spectrophotometric information on thermal emission of
the Shoemaker-Levy 9 debris fields in Jupiter's stratosphere. The morphology of
the sites is consistent with the majority of emission arising from the ejecta
blanket, rather than the small dense core at the point of impact identified in
visual imaging with the HST. Brightness temperatures of the impact sites provide
information on the local kinetic temperature of the gas in which the debris were
embedded, provided a value is assumed for the emissivity. The time for
the stratosphere to recover to its essentially unperturbed temperature profile
can be estimated from the data. A comparison of assumed emissivity
with kinetic temperature can be constructed which can then be referenced to a
standard temperature-pressure profile to estimate the pressure region in which
the debris reside after the "cooling-off" period. An independent estimate of the
debris altitude will help to constrain the altitude range probed by high
resolution visual studies of debris transport. Observational data for this study
were collected at the European Southern Observatory 3.6m telescope using the
TIMMI facility camera.